


Monochromatic

by Gemini_Baby



Series: Flufftober 2020 [9]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman and Robin (Comics)
Genre: AND their dynamic duo, Brotherly Affection, Damian Wayne Centric, Damian Wayne is a good brother, Dick Grayson is Damian Wayne’s Parent, Fluff, Flufftober, Flufftober2020, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, headache, i love their dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26949895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemini_Baby/pseuds/Gemini_Baby
Summary: “Here”, Damian said as he extended the glass of water and the medicine.Richard made a face but sat up anyway. “Ihatethese”, he said as he swallowed them down with water.“Father says I take after you in this matter.”“Did he say that?”“He said and I quote: ‘Like Father, Like Son’.”“...”“He didn’t mean himself.”OR: Dick had a headache, Damian had an art block. They both helped each other.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne
Series: Flufftober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2022917
Comments: 10
Kudos: 304
Collections: Dick Grayson is Damian Wayne's Parent, Flufftober2020





	Monochromatic

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Flufftober 2020's prompt, "Monochromatic"
> 
> I hope you enjoy <3

Damian was sitting on his bed, leaning his back to the headboard. He both wanted and needed to draw. He had art homework. But the attempt to colour some of his doodles and rough sketches, for personal projects, had failed earlier spectacularly. He wanted to make a full coloured poster as a gift to Richard for his upcoming birthday but all the rough drafts had been destroyed by all the weird and unexpected colour mixes and accidental smudges to the point that the rough sketch was beyond recognizable. All that stuff resided in his trash bin under the study table, now.

Damian was...frustrated.

So now he sat on his bed, leaning his back to the headboard facing the ceiling with his eyes closed.

  
  
  


A knock on his door startled him. He sat up straighter and asked, “Who?”

There was no answer. But then there were knocks again. Damian recognized the pattern of the knocks. It was Richard knocking. They sometimes would use a specific pattern when they couldn’t speak for some reason or didn’t trust their voice. He quickly scrambled to the floor and went to unlock the door, inviting his brother in.

Richard gave him a warm smile, even though his eyes looked like they would have tears in them any moment now. Damian returned the smile and moved towards the side of the doorway, so that Richard could enter.

Richard entered and went to sit on the other side of the bed in the room. Damian closed the door and joined his brother where he had been sitting. “How are you?”

He got a small nod in answer. Damian pressed his shoulder and side to Richard’s, hoping that it would be a comforting gesture. After a minute, Richard turned to his side minutely and tucked Damian’s head under his chin. “Head hurts but I will be fine”, Richard said with a small and pained voice. The headache must be extreme because Richard usually suppressed pain from his voice, Damian thought.

“Rest.”

“It’s fine.”

“ _ Richard.” _

“Didn’t mean to disturb you, kiddo.”

“You did not disturb me”, Damian said and then patted the pillow, “Now, rest.”

Richard didn’t move for some minutes, then leaned his face down a bit where Damian’s head was tucked under his chin - his nose tickling Damian’s head in the process - and dropped a kiss in his hair.

He then moved and laid down on the bed. At first, leaning his head to the pillow Damian had patted earlier. His eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply. After a while, he shifted his head to Damian’s knee, where he had been sitting cross-legged.

Damian looked down. He saw Richard closing his eyes tightly. He leaned down and kissed Richard’s forehead. “May I?” he asked. Richard nodded. Damian started rubbing his brother’s temple lightly. Then firstly, he carded his fingers through his hair and later started massaging the head lightly.

They remained like that for a long while. Richard’s head on Damian’s lap as Damian massaged his head.

  
  


“What were you doing before I came?” Richard asked.

And Damian could not answer that truthfully. 

Or more like he could not give his brother all the details…

He hated hiding things from his brother. But this was meant to be a surprise.

Damian could still answer truthfully, though. Just that he could not give away the surprise.

_ ( I was crying tears of blood because of the stupid art block.) _

“I was thinking about the art block I had been having with colouring.”

“Oh. I am sorry.”

Why was Richard apologizing? The art block was not his fault!

“It’s fine. I was also thinking about having homework”, Damian said as he rubbed his brother’s temple lightly.

Richard looked alarmed a bit, “Am I disturbing and distracting you from your homework?”

“You are not”, Damian said as he pressed a light kiss to the corner of Richard’s eye. “I have to make some sketches; monochromatic sketches. I don’t know what to make the subject of my sketches. Anything I come up with doesn’t feel like something I want to draw. It is confusing.”

“Can I help?”

“If you want to.”

“Are you required to make sketches of objects or living people? Or both?” Richard asked.

“Both. But we are required to not draw what we usually go for”, Damian replied as he resumed massaging his brother’s head.

“What does it mean?”

“It means no blue monochromatic sketch of Nightwing - “

His brother cut him off with,  _ “That’s totally unfair!” _

_ “I know”,  _ Damian agreed wholeheartedly.

“But it is also flattering.”

“Flattering?” Damian inquired. He was afraid of where this was going…

“That you draw me too much that you are not allowed to draw me anymore for this assignment” Dick cooed and yes, that was exactly what Damian was afraid of. Richard - honest to God -  _ giggled. _

“I think this is boosting your ego.'' After saying that, Damian made sure to sigh aloud, the exasperated younger sibling sigh ™. That did not have the desired effect on Richard though, who had started giggling even more.

Damian bounced his knee a bit for revenge. 

“Hey!”

“What?”

“It’s unfair?”

“Life? Yes.”

“No. Yes. I mean no but yes. Yes. No. Okay, I mean you bouncing my head like that is unfair.”

“Sorry.”

“You don’t mean it,” Richard said.

“I totally don’t”, Damian agreed.  _ He didn’t. _ It was nice to have someone he could banter with and not get in trouble for it.

“ _ Dami” _

This time it was Damian’s turn to smile. He had stopped bouncing the knee and had resumed massaging his head while scratching the scalp a bit from time to time.

“Did you take something for the headache?” Damian asked.

“...”

“ _ Richard” _

“....No?” 

Damian took a deep breath. Leaning towards the right side of his bed, he opened the drawer of his bedside table and fetched the medicine from it. Pouring water in a glass, he nudged Richard’s head with his knee.

“Damian!”

“Here”, Damian said as he extended the glass of water and the medicine.

Richard made a face but sat up anyway. “I  _ hate  _ these”, he said as he swallowed them down with water.

“Father says I take after you in this matter.”

“Did he say that?”

“He said and I quote: ‘Like Father, Like Son’.”

“...”

“He didn’t mean himself.”

After swallowing the pill and gulping the water, Richard flopped back, leaning his head on Damian’s knee.

What else can’t you draw?”

“My animal friends.”

“That is sad.”

“It’s fine. Except, I can’t come up with other ideas.”

“For the living persons...how about purple and a certain batgirl?”

“Not if I don’t want to be blackmailed.”

“Come on. Try it. If you get to keep the sketch after your teacher has checked it and it’s unmarked, you can even give it to Steph as a gift.”

“I will do that.”

“See, I have great ideas!”

“Something tells me I will regret this idea but for now, I will do this.”

“Aww, Dami.”

“Other ideas?”

“Mmmmm…Alfred’s favourite teapot but make it orange?”

“Huh”

“Good huh or bad huh?”

“Not something I thought you would say but now I am intrigued enough to experiment it - huh. I like the idea.”

“See?”

“I  _ see _ your point. Alright.” 

“How many sketches are you supposed to do?”

“Three to four”

“Two are out of the way of looking for ideas, right?”

“Yes”

“I have to think about other ideas more”

“Take your time”

  
  
  


“A car?”

“A car?”

“Yeah?”

“A car. Yes. A car. I would like to sketch a simple car.”

“So only one topic remains?”

“Yes!”

“Any of your favourite Justice League members in their colour scheme”

“ _ Richard” _

_ “ _ What? Fans exist!”

“Hmm. They do. Thank you”

  
  


“If it is okay would you show me the sketches after you have made them?”

“Of course”

“When are you going to do the homework?”

“In the evening, I think. It’s Saturday and I hope to finish it tonight so that I have a full free day tomorrow. But I will nap first”

“Nap sounds good. I think the medicine is working. I am about to fall asleep too” Richard said as he moved his head and himself to the pillow and the other side of the bed, spreading an arm to invite Damian to sleep. Damian, of course, followed.

They both were out in a few minutes.

_____________________________

Dick woke up. Damian was curled besides him with an arm thrown over him looking adorable the way he was. Dick felt warmth, pride and a surge of love and protectiveness rush through him and he tightened his arm holding his kid around him. He turned his neck towards the window. It was dark outside. It was night. Damian was supposed to be working on his homework in the evening!

He tried to wake up Damian, who at first tried to go back to sleep but then ended up waking up. But not without grumbling and complaining. They both sat up.

“I want to sleep more.” Damian yawned but sat up anyway, blinking his eyes and adjusting them to the light.

“You said you had to complete your homework.”

“I did. And I have to. Thank you for waking me up.”

“You were complaining a minute before!”

“I was. I don’t have to like it.”

“Fair.”

“How are you feeling?” Damian asked, looking at Dick with a soft expression. Dick could almost forget the headache.

“Better than how I was feeling at noon. Still have the headache though.” He didn’t want to admit but he did, anyway. He didn’t like hiding things from Damian who looked up to him for a lot of things. “Will you do the homework right now?” He asked when he saw Damian leaving the bed.

Damian turned around, looking at him quizzically, “Yes, after I freshen up. Why?”

“I was thinking about asking you”, Dick had no idea why he was fidgeting while asking this, “if it is okay, that I see the sketches later?”

“You can join me when I am sketching it.”

“I can?” Dick asked and he knew Damian was looking at him and looking through him. Damian knew Dick was worried that he might refuse. It was Damian’s right though. He usually liked to draw alone and if he sometimes didn’t feel comfortable, Dick would always comply with his request.

“Of course.” Damian smiled as he turned back and proceeded walking in the direction where he had been going, earlier.

“Thank you.”

___________________________________________

  
  


They both were on the bed. Damian’s sketchbook and board on his knees, as he picked up colour.

“So what are you going to draw first?”

“I think a car?”

“Nice.”

A red coloured car was soon decorating the paper.

The sketches were supposed to be rough but Dami insisted on giving his best even then.

Alfred’s teapot in the orange colour scheme was the next victim - err, subject. It looked cute and funny.

Dick had started dozing off where he had been sitting against the headboard. He wanted to be awake for the two remaining sketches so he tried his best stubbornly to not fall asleep.

But turned out it didn’t go unnoticed by Damian because “ _ Richard,  _ go to sleep.”

“I am fine.”

“At least lie down?”

“I am here and drawing. Going to finish the remaining two soon and will join?”

“Alright.” Dick did not trust himself to not fall asleep after hitting the bed. Damian repositioned himself. He went closer to the foot of the bed and put the board and pages on his side of the bed.

The kid was going to go with rough and not his best now. Dick felt a bit guilty.

“Don’t.”

“Huh, what?”

“You have that look on your face”, Damian said as he drew purple lines on the paper

“Which look?” Dick was confused.

“The look you have when you are feeling guilty for something outside of your control.”

_ Huh.  _ “I have a specific look for that?”

“Yes. Or maybe I can read it well” Damian said. A mix of concerned and amused expression on his face. 

“Oh no. Kiddo is learning all my secrets” Dick whisper announced dramatically from where he was lying on his side.

Damian smiled. That was a very precious smile. Dick wished he could see it more often. He knew he got to see it more than the most. But still...

The world needed to see Damian smiling.

After the quick sketch of batgirl was complete, Damian moved on to his next project. 

He picked up green this time. Dick was confused, to say the least. The last subject was: favourite justice league member. Dick had assumed it was going to be superman so he had been expecting either blue, red or yellow to be picked up. Picking up green to make the sketch was what threw Dick off. A thought came to his mind; maybe Damian was drawing Superman with a different colour, but the rough sketch didn't look like superman at all.

_ Green Arrow. _

Dick thought the headache was messing with him.

He had not expected that at all.

“I thought your favourite would be Superman.”

“I respect him but he is not my favourite.”

Dick raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a long story. Maybe I will tell you one day in the future.”

  
  
  


Dick blinked. He kept blinking. He was tired and his eyes felt heavy. He needed to sleep. He pulled up the covers on himself to go back to sleep.  Damian soon joined him after he had put the sketches away.

Dick's headache had not entirely gone but Damian had certainly helped in making it better.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it 💖
> 
> Kudos, comments, bookmarks, user subscriptions are all welcome and appreciated
> 
> If you want to say hi on tumblr or follow me there, I am geminibabyhere


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